Bottle-washing machine



BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 29, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Sept. 2, 1930. G. F. SOELCH BOTTLEQWASHING MACHINE Oxiginal Filed Oct.29, 1925 4 sheets sheet 2 2%2/6/1/0? Qea geldoe 56/14 @MV 1/ I Sept. 2,1930. G. F. SOELC H BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE Original Filed OQt. 29, 19254 Sheets-Sheet 3 G. F. soELcH 1,775,003 I .Sept. 2, 1930.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 29, 1925; 4 5 5 t 4 J N I lwwwnol nw GEORGE E. SOEIICH, OF WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR IOTHECBEAMERY PACK OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,.A CORPORATION an improvedbottlewashing Patented Sept. 2, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AGEMFG. COMPANY,

BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINE Original application filed October 29,

1925, Serial No. 85,568. Divided and this application flied October 14,1927. Serial No. 226,071.

struction and operation of machines for automatically washing andsterilizing milk bottles or the like, in succession.

An object of the invention is to provide machine which is simple inconstruction an efficient in operation. Another object of the inventionis to provide improved mechanism for enhancing the efiicienc ofoperation of bottle washin machines 0 the type formin the subject 0patent applications Serial umber 744,594,

filed October 20th, 1924, and Serial Number 65,569, filed October 29th,

1925, from which latter application this application has been divided.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved mechanism forautomatically and effectively delivering bottles in succession from abottle washing machine or the like, without damaging t e bottles. Stillanother object of the invention is to provide im'provedsafety appliancesfor automatical- 1y preventing the operation of or stoppin a bottlewashing machine or the like, un er abnormal operating conditions. Theseand other objects a "d advantages of the present improvement will beapparent in the course of the following description.

While the improvements have been shown and described herein as beingspecifically applied to a machinefor automatically washmg glass milkbottles of relatively standard design, such disclosure should not beconsidered as an intentional limitation in the scope of the inventionthe principles of which are obviously capable of more generalapplication. 1

A clear conception of embodiments of the various features of the presentinvention and of the operation of devices constructed in accordance withthe improvement, may be had by referring to the drawings accompanyingand forming a part of this specification, in which like referencecharacters designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic longitudinal section through animproved automatic milk bottle washing machine, some of the operatingmechanism having been omitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the improved bottledischarge mechanism.

Fi .3 is an enlarged side elevation of a portlon' of the improved bottledischarge mechanism, showing the elements in another position ofadjustment.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the improved bottledischarge mechanism, showin the elements in still another position ofadjustment.

Fig. 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of the improved bottlewashing machine showing the automatic control and stolp mechanismsassociated therewith.

1g. 6 is an enlarged fragmentaryside view of a portion of the improvedautomatic stolp mechanism.

ig.-7 is a fragmentary side elevation, showing elements of the operatingconnections between the several mechanisms.

9 The improved automatically operable milk bottle washing machinespecifically shown in the drawings, comprises in general a main frameand easing 2; an endless series of bottle carriers 3 transportable alonga definite course within the casing 2 by means of conveyor chains 4; aninitial soaking and washing basin 5 located in the lower portion of thecasing 2 near the inlet end thereof; a final soaking and washing basin 6located in the lower portion of the casing 2 adjacent to the basin 5; arinsing water basin 14 located in the medial portion of the casing 2above the basin 6; a series of external spray nozzles tion of the casing2 above the carriers 3; a series of internal spray nozzles 9, 15, 11located within the casing 2 below the upper horizontal run of theconveyor chain 4; mechanism for supplying dirty bottles 28 to and fordischarging clean bottles from the car riers 3 at the same end of thecasing 2; and mechanism for automatically controldriving shaft 77 whichis intermittently rotatable by means of a motor 46 in a manner whichwill be explained later.

The initial soaking and washing basin 5 contains a strong solution ofliquid which is capable of being heated by virtue of a heating coil 26immersed therein. The final soaking and washing basin 6 may contain aweaker but hotter solution of liquid which is capable of being heated byvirtue of a heating coil 27 located below the basin 6. An inclined wallor guide 7 extends upwardly from the discharge end of the final basin 7toward the carrier inverting sprocket 25. The nozzles 8, 9 may besupplied with liquid from the basin 6 as shown and described in thecopending applications above referred to, and the rinsing nozzles 10,11, 12, 15 may be supplied with relatively clean liquid from the basin14. The rinsing nozzles 13 may be supplied with pure liquid from anysuitable source and the liquid delivered from these nozzles iseventually delivered into the basin 14. The movable internal spraynozzles 9, 11 are adapted to be vertically reciprocated by means of arms76 and levers in a well known manner.

The mechanism for supplying the dirty bottles 28 to the washing machine,comprises a series of guides and an oscillatory stop plate 63 formed toperiodically release a'series of bottles 28 resting upon the guides. Themechanism for delivering the clean bottles 28 from the washing machineis located at the same end of the casing 2 as the supply mechanism, andcomprises a series of bottle ejectors 17 supported for periodicoscillation about a pivot 7 8, and bottle receiving and righting devicescooperable with the ejectors 17. The ejectors 17 are adapted to push theclean bottles 28 from the successive rows of carriers 3 upon laterallyspaced weighted bottle retainers 18 secured to an oscillatory plate orsupport 35. The support 35 is suspended at its upper end upon theswinging extermity of carrier arms 29, by means of a transverse pivot37. The carrier arms 29 are journalled upon an oscillatory shaft 31, andare provided with upper and lower abutments 32, 38, and with a bottlebottom support 34. The upper abutments 32 are cooperable with adjustablelimit stops '33 on the casing 2, to limit the movement of the arms 29 ina clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The lower abutments38 are engageable with the lower extremity of the plate 35 to arrest themovement of the support 35 in a clockwise direct-ion about the pivot 37,as viewed in like manner. One or more push arms 30 rigidly attached tothe shaft 31 carry rollers 36 at their upper ends, which are engageablewith the rear medial portion of the support 35. A bottle dischargeconveyor 19 of well known construction is supported upon a frame 39 andextends transversely across the machine in proximity to the bottleretaining supports 18 and support 35 closely adjacent to the bottlesupply mechanism.

The actuating mechanism comprises a motor 46 operatively connected witha main driving shaft 50 through a jaw clutch 47 and gearing 49. Theclutch 47 is manually operable by means of a handle 55, a connection 52and a lever 51, a spring 48 at all times tending to disconnect theclutch 47. The connection 52 has a lower notch 53 cooperable with alatch plate 54 secured to the casing 2, to hold the spring 48 incompression and to maintain the clutch 47 in normal driving position.The drive shaft 50 has a worm 64 secured to an end thereof, which mesheswith a worm wheel 65 secured to the transverse power shaft 80. From theshaft 80, intermittent motion is transmitted to the carrier drivingsprockets 16, to the movable nozzles 9, 11, to the bottle supply plate63 and to the bottle dis charge mechanism, by means of Geneva ge af ingas shown and fully described in copending application Serial No.744,594, filed October 20th, 1924, and illustrated herein in Fig. 7. Theopposite end (see Fig. 7) of the transverse shaft carries a revolvingcrank 81 having a pin 82 which. is adapted to successively engage theradial slots 83 of a Geneva star wheel 84 secured to one end of theconveyor-sprocket shaft 77. The shaft 80 also has a crank which isoperatively connected to nozzle-actuating arms 75 by means ofconnections 85 and 74, the former of which is variable in efiectivelength by virtue of a compression spring 86. The shaft 80 additionallycarries a cam of ordinary construction operatively associated with thepivot lever 87, the latter being effective to intermittently reciprocatethe connection 44 and to thereby simultaneously oscillate the transverseshafts 40, 31 in opposite directions by virtue of the lever 43 and themutilated gears 41, 42 shown in Fig. 2. The lever 43 is operativelyconnected with the supply plate 63 by means of a connection 45, crank 88and shaft 89. The bottle ejectors 17 are secured on the shaft 78, thelatter carrying a crank 88 (see Fig. 5) having a connection 89 with apivot lever 90 which is actuated by a grooved cam of ordinaryconstruction secured to the power erly spaced pins 66, 68 secured toshaft 80 inwardly of the worm wheel 65, whereby timed reciprocatorymovement is imparted to the ejeotors 17. v

The automatic motion preventing and stop mechanisms are shown 1n detailin Figs. 5 and 6, and comprise means for automatically stopping themachine in the event that the supply plate 63 fails to assume normalbottle receiving position; means for automatically stoppin the machinein case the ejectors 17 fail to scharge a bottle from a carrier 3; andmeans for automatically stopping the machine if the internal spraynozzles 9, 11

are prevented from functioning properly.

These several automatically functioning stop mechanisms are operated bymeans of Prop an element such as the worm wheel on the power shaft 80,and cooperating with elements 67, 69 which are normally retracted fromthe paths of revolution of the pins 66,68. The means for automaticallystopping the machine when the supply plate 63 fails to assume normalbottle receiving position comprises nection 62 connecting the element 67with a crank on the shaft 89 which supports the plate 63, and a latchrelease bar 7 1. secured to the vertical portion of the connection 62.The means for automatically stopping the machine in case the ejectors 17fail to deliver a bottle from a carrier 3, comprises a cross-plate 56vertically slidably supported in guides 57 on the casing 2; a lever 59pivotally associated with the casing 2 and connected to the plate '56by'means of connections 58; a spring 60 cooperating with one end of thelever 59 to normally urge the plate 56' upwardly in the guides 57; and alatch release bar 61 connecting an end of the lever 59 with theconnection 52. The means for automatically stopping the machine if thespray nozzles 9, 11 fail to function properly, comprises an arm 73secured to the nozzle actuating shaft; a horizontally movable connection72 secured to the arm 73; a lever element 69 pivotally associated withan end of the connection 72; a latch release bar connecting an end ofthe element 69 with the connection 52; and levers and a connection 74for simultaneously actuating the two sets of nozzles 9, 11.

During normal operation of the improved bottle washing machine, themotor 46 is operating and the hand lever 55 has been pulled forward tocause the latch 54 to engage the notch 53 in the connection 52'therebycompressing the spring 48 and positively hold-- ing the elements of thejaw clutch 47 m-driving engagement. With the clutch 47 thus engaged,continuous rotary motion is transmitted through the gears 49, shaft 50and gearing 64, 65 to the power shaft 80, and from the shaft through theGeneva gearing to the various movable elements of the machine in theform of intermittent motion.

Intermittent motion is thus imparted to the chains4 and to the carriers3 supported thereby. -Dirty bottles 28 are placed in inverted positionupon the feed plate 63 while the plate is in upper position, whereuponan liquid contained by the bottles is drained 0 The intermittent motiontransmitted through the connection 44, lever 43 and connection 45eventually causes the plate 63 to move downwardly and to precipitate therow of dirty bottles 28 by gravity into the carriers 3 below.. After'the.bottles have'been thus delivered to the carriers 3, the plate 63 isagain automatically returned to bottle receiving position and theadvancing carriers 3 submerge and transport the bottles in and throughthe initial soaking bath 5. At the end of the bath 5 the bottles 28 areelevated from the liquid and inverted to empty the same after which theyare submerged in and transported through the second bath 6. From thebath 6 the bottles 28 substantially filled final soaking liquid, areeventually elevated along the inclined wall 7 after which the bottlesare inverted andemptied by the reversing sprocket 25. As the carriers 3and the invertedbottles 28 therein are intermittently advanced throughthe upper portion of the casing 2, the spray nozzles 8, 9, 10, 15, 11,12,

'13 automatically function to cleanse the bottles by delivering liquidspray thereagainst, the nozzles 9, 11 being movable into and out of thesuccessive bottles by means of the levers 76 and weights associatedwiththese levers. At the supply end of tlr'e machine, the carriers 3 and theclean bottles therein are carried over the sprocket 16 and areeventually brought into proximity with the ejector 17 which positivelypushes the successive bottles 28 from the carriers 3 onto the inclinedsupport 35, the, bottles 28 assuming the tilted position shown in Fig.2. When the bottles have been thus positioned upon the carrier arms 29and the support 35, the push arms 30 are swung forward and urge thesupport 35 and the arms 29 forwardly to the position fully righted andmomentarily rest upon the arm support 34 in the plane of the top of theconveyor 19. When the elements have been so positioned, the armabutments 32 engage the adjustable stop 33 and the motion of the arms 29is arrested. The push arms 30 however continue to move the support 35forward causing the support to swing about the pivot 37 and to push theclean bottles 28 from the arm support 34 onto the moving conveyor 19with the as'shown in Fig. 4. The conveyor 19 automatically removes theclean bottles 28 from the machine and the discharge mechanism isreturned to bottle receiving position as the next row of carriers 3 isbrought into cooperative relation with the ejectors 17. In this mannerthe successive bottles 28 delivered to the machine are thoroughlycleanedand automatically discharged by the conveyor 19 at the same end of thewasher, without in any manner damaging the bottles.

The operation of the automatic stop mechanisms is as followsz-If for anyreason, the

supply plate 63 is prevented from assuming Lil) bottle receivingposition, the connection 62 is forced re'arwardly and causes the element67 to remain in the path of movement of the pins 66. As one of the pins66 engages the element 67, the bar .71 is pulled upwardly and engagesthe connection 52, releasing the notch 53 from the latch 54 and causingthe spring 48 to become effective to release the jaw clutch 47 and tostop the machine. If the ejectors 17 fail to deliver a bottle from oneof the carriers 3 upon the support 35, the retained bottle projectingfrom the advancing carrier 3 will strike the cross-plate 56 and willmove this plate downwardly in the guides 57, causing the spring 60 to becompressed-and raising the bar 61 associated with the lever 59. Theupwardly moving bar 61 will engage the connection 52, likewise releasingthe notch 53 from the latch 54 and causing the spring 48 to becomeeffective to release the jaw clutch 47 and to stop the machine. If forany reason, the reciprocable nozzles 9, 11 are prevented from movingdownwardly out of the carriers 3, the lever element 69 will be held inthe path .of the revolving pins 68 by the arm 73 and the connection 72.As one of the pins 68 engages the end of-the element 69, this elementswings about its central pivot and raises the bar 70 thereby elevatingthe connection 52, releasing the notch 53 from the latch 54 and causingthe spring 48 to become effective to release the jaw clutch 47 and tostop the machine. It will thus be apparent that the machine isautomatically stopped under various abnormal conditions of operationthus avoiding destruction of the mechanism.

-From the foregoing description, it will be noted that the inventionprovides improved means for automatically supplying and deliveringbottles in succession to and from an endless series of movable carriers,and also provides simple and efficient mechanism for controlling theoperation of bottle washing machines and for avoiding damage thereto.

It shouldbe understood that it is not desired tolimit the invention tothe exact details of construction and operation herein said carriers,means for delivering said bottles from said carriers closely adjacent tosaid supply means, means for moving said carriers in proximity to saidsupply and delivery means, and means for stopping said moving means wheneither said supply or said delivery means fails to function properly.

2. In combination, a series of bottle carriers, means for moving saidcarriers, means for supplying bottles to said carriers, means operableto enter and retract from the bottles supported by said carriers, meansfor delivering bottles rom said carriers, and means for stopping saidmoving means when said supply, said bottle entering or said deliverymeans fails to function properly.

3. In combination, a bottle carrier, means for moving said carrier alonga definite course, means for supplying bottles in succession to saidcarrier at one portion of said course, means successively entering thebottles supported by said carrier at another portion of said course,means for ejecting bottles from said carrier at another portion of saidcourse, and means for stopping said moving means when said supply, saidentering or said ejecting means fail to function properly.

4. In combination, a bottle carrier, driving means including a clutchfor moving said carrier along a definite course, an element rotatable bysaid driving means, means for normally retaining said clutch in drivingcondition, and means operable by a bottle .abnormally positioned in saidcarrier to engage said rotatable element and thereby be actuatcd torelease said clutch retaining means.

5. In combination, an endless series of hottle carriers, driving meansincluding a clutch for intermittently advancing said carriers along adefinite course, an element rotatable by said driving means, manuallyadjustable means for setting and retaining said clutch in drivingcondition, and means operable upon abnormal retardation to the movementof one of said carriers to engage said rotatable element and be actuatedthereby to release saidclutch and to stop the movement of said series.

6. In combination, an endless series of bottle carriers, means forsupplying bottles to 1 said carriers in succession, means operable toenter the successive bottles supported in said carriers. means fordelivering the successive bottles from said carriers, means forimparting motion to said carriers and to said sup- 1 ply, entering anddelivery means, and automatic stop mechanism operable upon abnormalfunctioning of said supply, entering or delivery means to disconnectsaid motion imparting means.

7. In combination, an endless series of hottle carriers, means forsupplying bottles to said carriers in succession means operable to enterthe successive bottles supported in said carriers, means for deliveringthe successive bottles from said carriers, means for imparting motion tosaid carriers and to said supply, entering, and delivery means, saidmotion imparting means including a clutch and a rotatable element, andmechanism operable to release said clutch and sta said motion impartinmeans. upon the ailure to function norma y of said carriers, said supplymeans, said entering means or said delivery means, said mechamsm havingan actuating member automatically movable into the path of said rotatingelement for actuating engagement thereby upon the occurrence 015 saidfailure to function normally of either of said means. 10 In testimonywhereof, I have hereunto afixed my signature.

GEORGE F. SOELCH.

.so I

